Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-04-04
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

| SEVERAL books of county records IN iowa,
/ which had long been missing. were recently
| found in Davenport saloon, where they nau
! been pawned for liquor by former onlclAi.
GIDEON THOMPSON, of Bridgeport, Conn,
celebrated his 93d birthday recently, and over
800 OF his fellow townmen called on him,
among them twenty persons over 80 years
| old.
THE Journal of Reno says that when John
| Mackay travels by rail he is always accom-
| panied by telegraph operator with porta-
BILE telegraph instrument for sending dis
patches in cases OF necessity.
Two thousand one hundred and twenty
| eight feet per second was the initial velocity
of the 1900 pound projectile fired twice with
1000 pounds of powder from the new 100 ton
gun intended for the British ship Ben Bow.
The gun survived.
AN English gentleman not long ago adver-
tised for general servant, ''who must be
good plain cook and an earnest dest." And
in an English High Church paper there re-
Gently appeared the advertisement OF coach
man who declared himself to be an lad
vanced Catholic and sklllful in the manage
ment of horses"
LATELY q noted Western dressed beef
dealer, immensely wealthy, shipped cargo
OF meat to an Ohio town. On account of his
goods being boycotted by the local labor or
ganization much of the consignment WAS re-
turned unsoid TO the owner, so veXing him
that he has now decided for revenge to set up
stores in the town and sell meat at ANY
price" in an endeavor to close cut those'who
refused TO purchase from him.
THERE is not an unmarried woman in Tur-
key who gan both read and write the Turk
ish language. and there are but few men who
are able to do so. 1t requires six years OF
hard study to acquire these accomplish
ments When you hear OF Turk with the
title
that he IL one of the few educated men in that
country, as the title is only conferred upon
those who can both read and write.
THE present craze for bull fighting in
Mexico has caused the price of bulls to ad-
vance, and good fighting bulls now sell at 5000
and $500 each. But Manzantini, the great
bull fighter, doesn't think much OF the fight
ing bulls of Mexico and intends to import his
bulls from Spain for the next season There
is, however. growing public sentiment IN
Mexico against bull-fghting, and it is possi-.
Die mat before long 1t Will be prohibited.
ATTRACTED by the profits that have been
derived from the rearing of ostrches and the
sale of their feathers enterprsing persons
have, at various times. exported these birds
from the Cape of Good Hope to such diver
gent quarters as India, SouVh Australia, the
River Plate and New Zealand, and in all
these, it is said that the birds are thriving,
notably so in the last named colony, from
which first consignment of feathers was re-
Gently taken to England.
SINCE Peter the Great no ruler Of Russia
has died natural death except Catharine
II. Alexis, the son of Peter the Great. was
killed by his own father. Peter H. was the
victim OF palace conspiracy, as was the
Empress Anne, who was poisoned Ivan !.
was killed IN prison while mere child;
Elizabeth was poisoned; Peter III. was
strangled, and Catharine ii. died a natural
death at the ripe age of 81. Paul L. was
arr cd nd Law dar hio
| poisoned; Nicholas |. committed suicide, and
| Alexander III. was blown up by dynamite.
AMONG the negroes, says the New Orleans
| Times Democrat, the moaning dove means to
| save mans soul. To kill one of these doves
| is a sign of death, but more frequently of the
death of child. A buzzard or q crow on 4
| house top is believed by the same people to be
an 1nvarable sign of death or disaster; a
visit at the door from rooster, the approach
| ing visit of friend; the noise of the screech-
| ing owl, or ''shlverlng" owl. is a bad omen OF
many interpretations; while, if the common
owl boots on your right, good luck Will follow
| but bad luck should ne take up his position on
| the left and boot therefrom
A CRUEL JOKE was perpetrated upon two
| Clearheld, Mass, barristers on St.Valentine's
| day. While in the midst of an exciting trial
a couple of telegraph messengers rushed in,
| giving each lawyer a Western Union envelope
| The case was stopped to give them time to
| ton of the whole court was attracted in their
| direction. When they unfolded their re-
| spective mIsslves both were startled by
| hIghly-colored comic valentine, representing
| shysUer lawyer. The Judge smiled, the jury
| laughed aloud, and the two victims hurried
| through with the case and got out of court.
EVERYBODY knows that it is quite a COM
| mon thing for big steamer to go through
| the Suez Canal at night. But what is, per-
haps, not 80 generally known, is that the
steamer itself, and not the Suez Canal Com
pany, has to supply the requisite electric
light apparatus for the nocturnal passage
What the company does is to prescribe the
amount of Illuminating power which the an
paratus mus possess. For instance, no
steamer is allowed TO start on a night transit
that is not fitted with an electric PROTECTOR
which is capable of throwing a light for at
least 1900 metres ahead. And on the upper
deck, too, there must be an electric lamp and
shade powerful enough TO light up a circular
area some 600 metres IN circumference BIZ
steamers are beginning to carry this apparA.
| tus. but there is company both at Port
Said and Port Tew6k. which lets out the
necessary projectors and lamps on hire
Mr.. SCHUMACHER, son of a former vice
consul of the United States at Haifa has made
a number of interesting discoveries in the line
of Palestine exploration. He claims TO have
seen crocodile il the Jordan valley, thus
confirming the statement Of Mr.. John Me-
Gregor. Mr.. schumacher has been aDuolnteu
the government surveyor of the district of
Acre, and SO ne has mad unusual OpporLuni-
ties for observation. His surveys east of the
Jordan, along the proposed railroad line 10
Damascus, gave him an opportunity to gain
some very accurate information of the coun
try. lie mas found the long looked-for .usya
the Hlppoo of the Decapolis. Mr.. Schuma her
is in correspondence with the English Pales-
tine Exploration Fund Society, and his re-
ports Will appear in their publication 1t is
well known that habtual residence in this
land enables man quietly to do more work
than can be done with the flourish of trump
cts of grand eXped ton.
ANAGANsETT FISHERMEN had a lively al
venture with a whale few days ago The
whale, on being struck by the harpoon.
showed fight, and instead of venting his fury
by diving and lounderlng he threatened the
boats with his tail, which was majestically
swayed in midair and brought down with
crushing force on the water near the boat
scattering the spray in every direction. At
every opportunity CAPT. Leek, who was in
command OF the boat, made fast to the whale,
forcing his lance into the huge fish, but this
only added to its fury. Once the whale mar
rowly missed the boat, smashing Two oars and
forcing the BOAT over broadside, and for few
moments IL seemed that the hardy fishermen
ran whaleman of that section, was signaled
to, ana his gallant crew bent TO their oars as
they rushed TO the rescue of the lmperiled
boat. Shortly afterward the whale lay dead
with more than thirty lance wounds in It's
carcass. Capt. John says this whale was the
Eercest fighter he ever saw. 1t il IS feet long
and It Is estimated Will Weld 1b barrels of oIi